Epilogue
LEVI
Next Christmas
“Babe,” Andy called and popped his head into the kitchen. “Leave that there for later. Let’s eat first. The others are waiting for us.”
He came up behind me to where I was tackling some of the dishes after another successful holiday event and wrapped me in his arms. Even after a year of being together every single day, I never tired of this. These little moments where we just soaked in each other.
“Good job today,” he whispered and pressed a kiss into my temple.
I turned in his arms and stole a real kiss. “You too. I saw a lot of happy smiles and people contentedly rubbing their bellies out there.”
I wondered if the high interest last year was because of the novelty of the event, but Thanksgiving and Christmas this year proved that wrong. Just as many, if not more, people showed up.
I liked to say it was the rising reputation Andy had brought to the B&B. In the past year, he’d really made a name for our restaurant, even bringing in food critics from around the world to travel to our sleepy little town to try his creations. I couldn’t blame them. Andy had spoiled me with all the dishes he’d created this year. I’d noticeably gained a few pounds, and even my pants fit a little tighter now.
The fame of our restaurant wasn’t the only change that had come to Fated Encounters B&B. We hired a few more permanent staff to help in the kitchen, as well as the B&B side of the business.
My dads had been serious about retiring to travel the world and as soon as they knew I could handle managing the place with Andy and our helpers, they went on their first trip overseas. They came back every couple of weeks to visit, which I was very glad about since I wasn’t used to being away from them for so long.
We walked hand-to-hand back out to the dining room. Colorful lights lined the walls with ornaments our guests made from the workshop we held last week decorated the sparse areas.
A large Christmas tree sat in the corner of the room. The neighborhood kids and the ones staying at the B&B had helped decorate earlier this month. It was a little chaotic but still perfect.
And of course, our signature Doves of Destiny—two doves kissing—sat at the top, watching over everyone in the room.
Most of the guests had already left, so it was now the people who worked tonight, and our close friends and family.
My dads had returned for the holidays and were sitting with Jim, Austin, and their families. Dad was excitedly showing them pictures he’d taken on the camera. Pops was laughing at whatever Dad was saying, probably telling a story about one of their adventures .
Across from them were Ethan and Kingsley, guests-turned-friends from out of town. Three years ago, their plane had made an emergency landing in Wintertown, and they stayed at our B&B and had fallen in love with each other here. Now, they returned every year around this time, always booking room 9, the same room they stayed in all those years ago.
Casey, Andy’s best friend from New York, had come to visit us too. I could tell they were close by the way they teased each other. There was a huge I-told-you-so moment when Andy told Casey he wasn’t returning to New York, but his friend had been happy for him.
Apparently, Casey was moving away from New York too. Said he got a new job somewhere called Corio City.
Casey was currently chatting with Felix, Bruce, and Felix’s parents. They usually spent Christmas in Christmas Falls, so I was surprised they had returned to Wintertown this year, but I was glad about it too. Everyone I loved was in this room, smiling, laughing, and just overall having a good time.
Instead of guiding me to join our friends and family like I thought he would, Andy walked us over to the front of the room.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, but he didn’t answer me. With a twinkle in his eyes, he turned to face everyone.
“May I have everyone’s attention, please?” he called out. The entire room went silent, and all eyes fell on us. I was still looking at Andy, wondering what he was up to. “Thank you all for being here today and for helping us host another successful holiday event at Fated Encounters.”
Cheers and applause sounded. Andy waited until they quieted down before continuing, “I’m so happy to be able to spend this holiday with the people closest to us, our community. And I’m so excited to have you all here to witness this moment. ”
I was still confused about what was going on as I listened to him speak, but that confusion quickly turned into surprise when Andy pulled something out of his pocket, turned to me, and dropped to one knee.
He took my hand in his, and I gripped it tight, wondering if this was actually real. Maybe I’d passed out without knowing, and this was all a dream. But then Andy smiled, squeezed my hand back as if to confirm that this was indeed happening, and then spoke, “Levi, when I came here to Wintertown, I wasn’t expecting to fall in love. But life has a way of doing the unexpected, putting you in my path, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Fuck, Andy. Yes, fuck, yes. I want to marry you,” I practically screamed, pulling him up and jumping into his arms.
Laughing, he caught me. “I didn’t even ask the question yet.”
“It doesn’t matter. The answer will always be yes. I love you, Andy. And I want to be your husband.”
“Husband. I really like the sound of that,” he said, his eyes darkening.
“Well, then. What are you waiting for?” I held my left hand out for him. Andy was clearly amused, but went along with it and slid the gold ring onto my finger, then pulled me in for a kiss.
The room came to life with loud cheering and more applause, but it all faded into the background. I was lost in Andy, and I wanted to stay that way.
When we finally pulled apart, our friends and family came up to congratulate us. My dads pulled me in tight, and I swore I saw Pops with tears in his eyes.
Felix screamed so loud as he literally jumped for joy, pulling me along with him. I realized Andy must have told Felix he was proposing, and that was why Felix was here instead of Christmas Falls.
My man had everything planned out perfectly.
Jim and Austin were calmer about it, but still very happy for us nevertheless, though Jim liked to claim Andy and I getting together was all thanks to him. I had to admit he wasn’t wrong. If he hadn’t dragged us out to the club, Andy and I might have kept dancing around each other.
It wasn’t until everyone took their seat again that I had time to really look at the ring. It was a simple gold band with a carving on the front side. When I took a closer look, I could see it was two doves kissing.
Andy watched me, looking a bit smug when he saw I finally noticed what was on the ring.
“I totally converted you,” I said. He’d been so adamant that the Doves of Destiny was nothing more than fiction, but look at him now.
He laughed and took my hand. I noticed he was wearing a gold ring as well. One that matched mine with the Doves also engraved on it.
“In more ways than one,” he whispered, coming closer to suck on my bottom lip. “And I wonder what else you’re going to change my mind about.”
“Probably lots of things. We have the rest of our lives, after all.”
I kissed him, feeling light and everything good.